towerofanimus | Please will you wake up

Entry tags:

Please will you wake up

Characters: Dave Strider and Bro Strider
Setting: 2-10
Format: Either
Summary: An older Dave fell asleep in Bro's bed. Bro wakes up to a much smaller Dave in the morning.
Warnings: Stupid Striders. Strider potty mouths. The general confusion if someone who was 54 suddenly waking up 14.

The entire week had been some kind of trip. Everyone being different ages and no one quite sure knowing as to why. Dave had taken it with stride, considering that everyone was younger than he was and that was more relieving than anything. It means they hadn't been here as long as he has and that also meant that they haven't dealt with the Tower for as long as he had.

And seeing Bro younger was actually really nice. A lot nicer than he'd like to admit. At least this means Bro got to see him grown up. Sure, this Bro didn't watch him slowly age, but he got to see him as an adult. Someone who could actually stand on his own.

Last night was a blur. He spent most of his time with Bro that night. A lot of paper was thrown around. Silly drawings were made and a few more serious drawings were also made. There was a large stack sitting atop Bro's trunk. A mix of drawings and the notes Dave made to communicate to the other.

At some point they must have fallen asleep. Dave too lazy to go back to his room and deciding that Bro wouldn't mind if he accommodated part of the bed. What both of them probably were expecting to wake up to was perhaps a suddenly smaller body accommodating Bro's bed. Dave was dead asleep (a rarity considering this place) and curled against Bro. Bro's probably going to wake up to a significantly smaller Dave. It's almost as though he was never a thing, if not for the stack of papers sitting on the trunk. That, and the fact that when Dave wakes up, he'll sure as hell remember what happened within the last week.

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Oh my god. Don't you dare ever take pictures of his terrible bed hair. You are the worst brother. It is you.

"You haven't looked in a mirror. Maybe your bald spot is showing." Not that Bro has one. But Dave can be a brat too. "I don't know. Somewhere in this room I guess. No, I lied. I ate it. It was fucking delicious and I have no regrets whatsoever for doing so. I lived a good life. Ate some good hats. Life is complete. I can die happy now." Everything that came out of Dave's mouth was stupid...

Despite the fact he knows he doesn't have a bald spot, he can't stop his hand from shooting up to rub at his head, trying to find the supposed bald spot. Goddamn it you really are a little shit. If he had a bald spot, he would probably cry. And a crying Bro is not a Bro anyone actually wants to see.

"Are you sure you got enough sleep? You sound like a fucking sleep drunk."

That would be mentally scarring. It's not particularly something he'd like to see.

"I got more sleep than I usually get, so yeah. Or maybe it wasn't me who got the sleep. I don't know." There's a tone to his voice that's hard to pin point. But he sounds like he didn't really want to bring up that version of him, but couldn't really avoid it all the same. "I'm totally awake. You can't be more awake than me to be honest."

So don't fuckin' tell him he's got a bald spot again, or he might convince himself he does and then cry and then you would be fucking mentally scarred forever.

He shifts a little at that, feeling the weight of the situation really hitting him, the fact the older Dave is gone now. "It was you... You were him," he says after a few moments of silence. "It's not like you just faded out of existence while he was here. You were still inside there." He knows because despite how different that Dave was, there were still qualities from the Dave he knew there.

It was funny, okay. You're old, but not that old. At least he thinks so. Bro with a bald spot would be kind of funny for a few seconds.

"No. I wasn't him. He was me," Dave replies back. His sense of self was really skewed. It was hard to tell if that was him or an alternate version of him. "I can't take those memories as mine. That's not fair to him. Me. Fuck, whatever." Being the Time Player really fucked you up in this kind of situation. "Even if he was me, he already knew his existence was flimsy at best." And Dave feels bad about that.

"It's the same difference, isn't it? He's you, you're him. It doesn't fucking matter." At least not to Bro, and he feels a little annoyed that Dave is making this difficult when he figures they should just... mourn him, or whatever, and try and move on. Or maybe Bro is the only one who has to move on, because losing him hurts in a way that he honestly can't explain. "Don't over think it. Just this once, let it be, okay?"

"That's not fair to him. I don't know. That's like taking credit for whatever crap he's done when I didn't actually do it myself. I guess he was me? Maybe I can be him eventually, but..." He trails off. This is really just giving him the hugest headache.

"Sorry. I shouldn't be thinking. Thinking and temporal bullshit is usually a terrible thing to mix together."

He's legitimately about to punch you all over, Dave. Seriously. You're over thinking it. But no, he's not going to punch you. But he will sigh and just shake his head. "I forget sometimes that time is you're thing. Of course you're going to over think it all."

Bro pauses after a moment.

"...Do you want to be him?"

"I shouldn't even be thinking for it. If I think too much into it, I'm bound to fuck it up more than not thinking. It's usually kind of an intuitive thing. You can't really think it to be honest. Time doesn't really work on a logical level." Wow, that was a ridiculously intelligent but useless word vomit.

"I don't know."

Blah blah blah timey wimey bullshit. In his opinion, Dave is just overcomplicating it way too much. "What do you mean you don't know?" he asks, deciding to disregard that speech on time in order to focus on what he thinks of as the important part. "Is there something about him you don't like or something?"

"No? I don't know," Dave responds with a shrug. "He seemed pretty cool, which sounds weird to say since I can grow up to be him. I guess, I rather not be mute though? It's kind of like, if I can't say something, people are less likely to hear me." And he's scared of people not hearing him. For a plethora of reasons. "I guess I'm just saying that I know that's a possible route which is why I don't want to go down it. It kind of makes it seem premeditated for me."

Bro can't really argue with that logic, he guesses. So after a moment, he just shrugs and gives Dave a nod. "Yeah. I guess I could see why you'd want your future not to be premeditated or whatever. I mean, all things considered, actively trying to grow up mute is a little weird." Weird, but man he... honestly wouldn't mind. That Dave seemed pretty capable, despite the disability to talk. So obviously if it happened, Dave would cope well enough from it. "Y"know..." He's quiet for a few moments. "I really don't care how you grow up, as long as you just... do."

"Well. We always kind of got stuck in something that seemed premeditated." And it really sucks in hindsight. And when you're so acutely aware of time, it makes it seem even harder to avoid.

There's a long pause before Dave speaks. "You won't really get to see it happen though." Yeah. He said it.

Bro pauses, eyebrows furrowing a little. "What's that supposed to me?" he asks, folding his arms. "The last part. About me not getting to see it? What's stopping me from seeing it? Last I checked, you and I are both here and I ain't going anywhere."

"What if we find a way to reverse this all." What if everyone finally goes home? Home to a restored "home" and Dave has to go back to living out the rest of the session. There's no Bro to come back too.

What if one of them disappears?

"Oh."

He falls silent after that, his stomach no longer feeling quite right. He should've known that's what Dave meant, and... Somehow he can't help but feel conflicted on it. Of course he wants them to be able to go home, but... But he's seen so much of Dave here, and of what he's become, that he's no longer sure if he wants to actually go back home- or rather, he doesn't want to die. "Well then that'd be for the best," he finally says quietly, giving Dave a small smile, even though it's forced.

Dave doesn't seem completely convinced about that. "But is that for the best?" And maybe it's selfish to think about not going back. Because he knows another session is expecting them but...is it unfair to not want your guardian in your life? He knows what to expect when he heads back. He doesn't want to leave. This place was hell, but there were a lot of people here that he liked too. People he can't bring back with him. It's the first time he realizes that if they ever can go home...it would be a difficult choice.

"Yeah, it is." It's still forced, but he sounds confident in his words despite that. "You don't need me," he continues. "You didn't need me before I got here, and you don't need me if you go back." He's not stupid to think that Dave is just talking about him though, but he can't speak for other people. "I may not have experienced it first hand, but I died for you. It was just my fuckin' time to go. But you survived, and you'll keep doin' that. It's just what you do."

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Please will you wake up

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